BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies Women’s head coach, Henderson Springer, hopes the squad’s ongoing preparation over the last few months will pay dividends in the upcoming limited overs series against South Africa starting here today.
The two teams will lock horns in three One-Day Internationals at Kensington Oval which form part or the ICC Women’s Championship, before turning their attention to a five-match Twenty20 series – the last four matches of which will be played in Trinidad.
“Most of these girls have been going from the beginning of May,” said the veteran coach.
“We had about three camps that went really, really well, so I’m hoping that the work we did at the camps augurs well leading into us improving and putting ourselves into winning positions and sealing the deal in these series.”
West Indies have had a rocky start to the championship and currently lie sixth on six points. They started positively, thrashing Sri Lanka 3-0 in the Caribbean last October but were then humbled 3-0 by New Zealand last March on the road.
In fact, the Windies lost every match on tour both in the ODIs and T20Is – barring one T20 which was abandoned due to rain.
Since March, West Indies have not played any international cricket and Springer said Sunday’s game would be crucial in terms of finding their momentum again.
“Obviously we want to get off to a good start because we haven’t played international cricket for a number of months. Once we get a good start that will set the tone and that will help to build some momentum,” the former Barbados off-spinner explained.
“South Africa are worthy opponents and we’ve had the privilege of sitting down and watching them. We have an analyst and a whole set of stats on them.
“It is up to us now to use those stats and turn them into good training opportunities and ultimately being able to get the better of them in this part of the world.”
West Indies boast a largely experienced side with the likes of captain Stafanie Taylor, former skipper Merissa Aguilleira and explosive all-rounder Deandra Dottin – all of whom have played in excess of 100 ODIs – included in the squad.
And while a series win remained the objective, Springer said it was also crucial that players showed improvement throughout the tour.
“For one, [I want] for the ladies to really improve their game – skill-wise, fitness and general awareness and ultimately, to win the series,” he said.
“It would be good to win but it would also be good to see the girls improve as that is more long term than winning, and to see the general attitude towards winning and improvement change and get better.”
